Growing Bonds and Loose Knots
by Drawing Flower
Summary: America, Cuba and Philippines have teamed up against Spain. Puerto Rico watches as her once 'tight knit' family falls apart. What'll happen when she gets captured? Why is Philippines acting strange to her after the war is over? NEVER GOING TO UPDATE. Sorry.
1. World Conference

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hetalia or any of the characters except Puerto Rico, Philippines and Guam.**

I have major writers block with my other stories so I'm starting a new one. Starting a new story always helps me get over writers block. Enjoy! I had this story up before but I rewrote it and changed a LOT of things.

_Thinking_

"Speaking"

"_Speaking in different language_" (I'm too lazy to look up how to say it in that language.)

I might change the speaking in a different language one to **bold** if people complain about it being confusing with the _thinking. _The reason I'm not using bold is because I find it a little annoying to look at.

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><p><strong>Chp. 1 World Conference<strong>

Standing in front of a small wood door a woman sighed. Her dark brown eyes were filled with worry for not only herself but for her caretaker who has been fighting a lot with another country, her brother and her sister who was standing right next to her. Well, she wasn't really her sister. They weren't blood related but they liked calling each other sister.

"_First Cuba wants independence, then you want independence, now is Spain in a war with both of you guys and America. Guam and I are stuck right in the middle of this whole mess trying very hard to stay out of it_," the one with long, curly dark brown hair said to her 'sister'. That was the first time she had talked to her in days and that was the only thing she could think of to say, to complain about how much she hated the current war and to blame her brother and friend for ruining their 'perfect' family.

"_I know but there is nothing you can do. Complaining won't help_," the one with long, straight black hair said. "_It's not like you're the only one suffering. I have to fight alongside two idiots. With my luck, something will go wrong in this meeting and I'll have to deal with more embarrassment, as if having America helping me get independence wasn't embarrassing enough. The only thing I'm looking forward to in this meeting is seeing all the cute foreign guys again_."

_Is that the only thing she can think of? _The older one thought. Her best friend was always a giant flirt but because of her clingy personality she could never keep a boyfriend for long. _At least she's had one. Guys only ask me out after they've gotten rejected by her. Who wouldn't like a girl that has two gigantic melons for a chest?_ _Even if she does smother her boyfriends too much. _She then looked at her own chest and sighed again. She wasn't small, no, she was a decent size but it looked small compared to her friend's. She looked at her friend and sighed once more at what she was wearing, a red dress that came above her knees. She also looked at her own clothes, khaki cargo shorts that came to her knees with a light blue v-neck shirt. _We're so different it's hard to believe we lived together since we were kids, _Sophia thought. That was her name, Sophia Desiree Gonzalez but nobody had really called her that in a while. It was considered rude among nations and countries to call each other by their real names unless you were close to that person or unless you weren't a nation or country then you could call them by their first names but Sophia wasn't really close to anyone. She called Rizalyn her best friend and sister but no matter how hard she tried she just couldn't get close to her. Same with her other friend and Philippines' real sister, Mary. They called each other by their first names but neither of them were really as close as they pretended to be.

Her tan hand reached for the door knob and slowly turned it. With a barely audible _creek_ it opened.

"_Whoa!"_ She said as she looked at the room full of nations who were sitting at a large round table that took up most of the room except for a spot near the back where a small chalk board hung from the wall. This was her first time coming to a world conference and so Sophia took a few seconds to look around before turning back to her friend.

"_Well, I'm off to find myself a boyfriend_," the one with the darker skin said winking at her as she walked away forgetting all her friend's feelings in the process. Rizalyn never really cared about what her friend thought or any of her feelings and she didn't try to look like she cared unless there was something she wanted.

"_Philippines! Wait_!" Sophia said but her words were drowned out by everyone else's chatter. "_Don't leave me here alone."_ She would much rather be with the younger country than be alone. She started to regret letting Spain go on into the room ahead earlier as she looked around to only find unfamiliar faces.

"Puerto Rico!" she heard her name being called from her left and turned around to find the source even though she already knew who it was.

_Maybe I won't end up alone here after all, _she thought relieved to find her brother pushing his way through the crowd so he could greet his older sister. _"Hey, Cuba!"_

"_I haven't seen you in forever!"_ the dark brunette said once he reached her taking her into a bear hug but let go when she started coughing. Looking at her with worry he asked, "_What's wrong, sis? You got a cold or something?"_

"_No, it's the smoke from your cigar!"_ Puerto Rico said annoyed. She had been trying to get him to quit smoking for a while but nothing seemed to work. Pushing her younger brother out of the way she walked in a random direction out of annoyance not even thinking about it.

"_Wait!" _he said walking behind her before he was cut off and pushed to the ground by another man.

_"Bonjour_!" the blond man said to Puerto Rico. He then grabbed her hand and kissed it with his soft lips. He smiled when he raised his head and found the girl's face had turned red.

_"Hola_," she said quietly and smiled trying to be polite.

"_My name is France_," the man introduced himself in Spanish realizing the younger country didn't know French. _"Hope you don't mind me asking but are you lost? This is the meeting for world nations._"

"_I'm not lost. I'm here with Spain,"_ she said with a bit of annoyance. The way he said that last sentence sounded a bit rude to her.

"_Spain? You must be Puerto Rico! My how much you've grown since I last saw you!_" he said staring at her chest with a smile that sent chills down the Puerto Rican's spine. He then raised his head to look into her eyes. "_Do you remember me? Oh, of course you do! I was that handsome young man that tried to help you get away from that terrible Spain a few years ago. Yes, I sneaked in through the window."_

Fear struck her as she started to remember who he was. _T-that creep! _That night she became scarred for life because of him. She tried resisting the urge to punch him as his gaze went back down to her chest_._

"Stop it, France, you're scaring her!" a man sitting at the table in a nearby seat sipping what seemed to be tea. Sophia couldn't understand what language he was speaking.

"I am not! I am being a gentleman and introducing myself. Something _you _wouldn't understand!" France said in the same foreign language letting go of the Hispanic girl's hand and facing the other blond.

"_You call that being a gentleman? I'll show you how to be a real gentleman_," he said in Spanish getting up just as Cuba was about to push France out of his way. The man with the bushy eyebrows blocked his way and walked up to the girl's other side. He grabbed her hand and, just like France, kissed it. "_Hello I'm England. Honored to meet you. Maybe you remember me? I was that nice guy with the little boy that used to...er… visit Spain_."

"_How is that any different then what I just did?"_ the blond with the longer hair shouted.

"_I didn't scare her!"_

"_Well, I didn't either!"_

_"Of course you did!"_

"_No, I didn't!"_

They shouted in her ear for another few seconds almost making her deaf before they started to have a real fight but before they could get too serious Cuba had enough of the two countries blocking the way to his sister.

"_Hey!"_ he shouted angrily. "_Get away from my sister!"_ For a second Puerto Rico thought her brother would end the fight but she was wrong. He joined it. Three nations were now fighting over nothing while everyone sat and watched or tried to ignore it.

_Aren't they going to do anything?_ She thought looking at the bystanders not knowing that it was common for the nations to fight over silly things amongst themselves. She sighed completely embarrassed by all the trouble she had been causing. Puerto Rico was just about to walk away and pretend nothing had happened before she felt a fist make contact with her light tan face. Burning hot anger surged through her as she turned to face the three fighting men. She had always had problems keeping her temper and mood swings under control.

"_Uh-oh! You've done it now, England_!" Cuba shouted petrified still holding onto France's neck with his other hand closed in a fist an inch from the man's head. His eyes widened remembering how explosive his sister's temper could be.

France and England stopped in the middle of their fight and both turned to see the girl's face. Instantly they froze in mid punch as fear masked both of their faces. They didn't know what she was capable of doing but they could guess just by the look on her face and Cuba's reaction.

"_Did you just hit me?"_ she asked angrily. "_I'M GOING TO PULVERIZE YOU!"_ She then jumped at the three men and the fight started all over again. She punched both England and France at the same time and sent them flying across the room almost knocking into another man with a ponytail at the end of the table where he was writing stuff down on the board. He jumped as the two blondes almost hit him and shouted "Aiyaa!"

Turning towards her brother Sophia started to hit harder and faster.

_"I'm not the one who hit you, sis_!" Cuba said as he tried to get out of the way of her furious punches and kicks. She cornered him and threw a punch that instantly knocked him out. He fell to the ground with a loud thud.

After that she walked away from him hoping that he wouldn't try to look for her when he woke up. Not knowing where to sit she leaned on a wall and looked around again hoping to find that Spain was nearby. He had gone inside the conference room first and left her in the hall to talk to Philippines. Instead of Spain, Puerto Rico spotted Philippines on the other side of the room talking to another nation. It surprised Puerto Rico that her friend wasn't flirting with him. It actually looked like she was yelling at him. Puerto Rico tried to listen in but everyone else's voiced drowned her out completely.

She could only watch as her younger housemate furiously shouted at the blonde nation. Slowly he backed away from the women with a small smile that showed he didn't know why she was mad at him.

_I've never seen her that mad before. I wonder what he did to make her that way, _Puerto Rico thought as she watched the man practically run away with the most confused expression Puerto Rico had ever seen on a guy's face. _Poor guy._

She waved her arm in the air to get Philippines attention then cupped her delicate hands at each side of her lips and mouthed, 'What was that all about?'

Her friend mouthed back, 'Later'.

_Later? We don't live together anymore since she and Spain started fighting, __she_ thought sadly remembering back when all five of them used to be a family. _Oh, what happened to us? _Sophia longed to go back to the days where the only problems she had to deal with were trying to sneak a cookie out of the cookie jar without Spain knowing and trying to find a good hiding spot when she was playing hide and seek with her siblings.

After that another five minutes passed and the young girl started to get extremely bored wondering when the meeting was about to start until someone came up to her.

"Hey," the same guy who her friend was mad at said next to her.

"_Hola_," she said turning towards him and smiling.

"_Another Spanish speaker_?" he asked in Spanish already knowing the answer.

"_I don't know English, sorry_."

"_It's okay, I'm fluent in Spanish. I'm also learning a few other languages. You're new here, aren't you?"_ he asked not being able to remember the beautiful woman in the last conference.

"_Yeah, this is my first conference,_" Puerto Rico said examining the man's features closely. His eyes were the most beautiful shade of blue she had ever seen. They reminded her of the ocean which she loved so much. "_What was Philippines yelling at you about?"_

"_Oh, that… I actually don't know. All I did was walk up to her and told to her something she needed to know about and the next thing I know she starts yelling at me for no reason_." He said scratching the back of his head he muttered something else that Sophia had barely caught. "_She also wanted something and got mad when I said no_." The brunette smiled feeling a bit of satisfaction. Her sister who was used to getting whatever she wanted from guys had just been rejected. Now _that _was something you didn't see every day.

"Everyone take your seats! The conference is starting!" a platinum blonde shouted to the room before Puerto Rico could respond.

"_If you weren't, ugh, planning on sitting anywhere else, why not sit next to me? England doesn't sit next to me anymore since I got independence,_" he said with a smile though Puerto Rico thought she heard the smallest hint of sadness in his voice.

"_Well I was actually going to sit with Spai_-" she was cut off by the man saying, "Awesome!" grabbing her hand and dragged her to the end of the table near the chalkboard where two empty seats were not really caring about her answer.

"_I'm America, by the way,"_ he said once they sat down.

Puerto Rico froze. _America? The guy that Philippines and Cuba are teaming up with to defeat Spain? _She looked around the table and noticed she and America were getting glares from three individual people. Spain didn't appreciate Puerto Rico talking to the enemy, and Philippines and Cuba didn't like America all that much but there was another reason why they were glaring at the two, more specifically America. The young country made it no secret that he wanted Puerto Rico and the three countries were all very reluctant to make that happen. He was less than three hundred years old and already he was stronger than them! With each territory he gained the more power he had even if it was as small as Puerto Rico.

"Raise your hand if you want to talk!" the same man that started the conference shouted to everyone taking a second to look at each nation individually.

To nobody's surprise, America raised his hand first and stood up not waiting to be called upon. The younger nation always had something he planned on saying at the meetings whether it was some hair brained idea to stop global warming or some random statement he thought everyone would find amusing.

"Oh god, get ready for another fight," someone near the two whispered to his neighbor. "No doubt this is going to be about his war with Spain."

"Yeah, I just want to say that I will win the current war that is going on between me and Spain and capture Puerto Rico," he pointed at the girl beside him who had no idea what he was saying or why he pointed at her. "and Guam but I mostly want Puerto Rico. I also plan on keeping Cuba after the war. That is all." He then re-seated himself next to the small Spanish country.

The usually cheerful and nice Spain got up from his seat with a serious look on his face and turned to America. He was about to say something before France interrupted him.

"We'll just have to see won't we? Surely this will be an interesting war. I can't wait to see who the victor is," he said with his right cheek in his hand covering up the mark that Sophia had left not too long ago.

Almost immediately after he spoke the room became loud with countries telling each other about whom they think was going to win the war and what would happen to the loser after it was over. Some nations acted like they were neutral while others weren't afraid to speak their opinions.

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><p>Please review! If I made any mistakes please inform me.<p> 


	2. Quick and Easy Capture

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hetalia or any of the characters except Puerto Rico, Philippines and Guam.**

I'm sorry if Spain is ooc. It's hard for me to get a grip on his real character and... He's going through a stressful war can you blame him for being a little under the weather?

_Thinking_

"Talking"

_"Talking in a different language"_

Other offer still stands until I get to the fourth chapter.

**I'm not going to put italics on them speaking in this one because all of it is going to be Spanish so why bother?**

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><p><strong>Chp. 2 Quick and Easy Capture<strong>

Both Hispanic countries dragged themselves back home after a long meeting with the other nations. The nations didn't really even do anything except fight with each other. Definitely not what Puerto Rico pictured her first meeting to be like.

"That meeting didn't end well," Sophia said when she and Spain were back in his house. The lighting in his house was much better than the conference room which made it easier to see all his new cuts and bruises especially after he took off his shirt so it wouldn't get anymore blood on it. She stared at his body noticing with some relief that the scratches were small and would heal quickly.

The conference went worse than bad when one of the countries got up out of his seat and started a fight with the Spanish country by punching him in the face. Soon after many people began attacking each other and no one was left out except Canada who nobody knew was in the room, Sealand who everyone chose to ignore and Puerto Rico who had already scared everyone enough earlier that day with her hot temper. She was practically useless at war but in a one on one, or three, fight she could handle herself pretty well.

Her eyes trailed back to the man's face and she quickly looked away and blushed embarrassed when she found him staring right back. He had caught her staring! _Oh, my gosh! What if he thinks I was checking him out or something? _

A gasp snapped the young Puerto Rican out of her thoughts and they both looked towards the hallway to the source. There they saw the youngest looking country living in the house. Her dark hair seemed to fade into the pitch black hallway behind her; the blended effect almost made it seem like she had no hair at all. The lack of light made her bright-green clothes seem a lot darker, though they became brighter with each step she took towards the light in the room in front of her.

"What happened?" Her usually soft and quiet voice became panicked as she hurried over to Spain examining every wound closely.

"Just another meeting," Spain sighed as a small smile graced his sun kissed face. How much of an affect the war and the meeting had on him was showing tremendously just by the way he smiled. Instead of the insanely happy smile he always seemed to wear it looked sad and forced. "Don't worry about it this is nothing, they'll be gone by tomorrow."

"Not if they get infected!" Guam said then ran into another room and came back slowly trying to drag a giant emergency kit box Spain kept in the kitchen in case something happened.

Puerto Rico giggled at the sight of such a small girl carrying such a big box. Even though Mary was much older than Sophia she had the appearance of a ten year old but with the right make up and clothes she could look around fourteen. Puerto Rico looked around twenty years old. How she became older looking than her friend she'd never now. She smiled and decided to help her 'sister' by grabbing the box, carrying it into the living room and setting it on the coffee table.

"Come on, Spain. You know she won't rest until you at least put some antibiotics on those."

"I guess you're right," Spain sighed then looked at the clock. "Alright girls bed time."

Puerto Rico groaned and started walking out of the room and into the hallway but Guam stayed right where she was saying, "I'm not leaving until I see every scratch and bruise has antibiotic cream on it!" How quickly her shy and passive personality changed when something serious happened!

Sophia smiled even larger at how cute her friend looked when she said something as strange as putting antibiotic ointment on a bruise. The island country's hand subconsciously moved to the side of her face as she remembered she had been punched earlier that say.

It didn't hurt or feel swollen. She guessed it wasn't black and blue either. Maybe that's why Mary hadn't noticed it. Though, if she had to make a bet she'd say that it probably would be a little darker later in the morning.

When she had finally reached her room, Sophia plopped down on the small bed and quickly fell asleep.

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><p>Guam yawned loudly as she got out of bed and sluggishly made her way to the bathroom so she could get ready for the seemingly normal day ahead of her. She took a shower and threw on her normal bright green dress that went down to her ankles. She was glad her dress wasn't as short as Puerto Rico's. Her friend's dress went a few inches above her knees. She never got used to the short length of her maid dress just like Guam never got used to the idea of living in Spain's house. He said that because their houses were so far away from each other Cuba, Guam, Philippines and Puerto Rico had to live with him. His house still felt so alien to her even after decades of living in it.<p>

Slowly the small island made her way down the hall. As she passed Sophia's room the girl noticed she was still sleeping.

_Must have been a hectic conference,_ Guam thought walking towards one of the many doors that lead outside. _Puerto Rico usually gets up the second the sun rises. Well, they did come home late… Or early since it was almost three in the morning._

As soon as she was outside Mary tipped her head back and closed her eyes so she could feel the full warmth of the morning sun on her cheeks. She smiled breathing in the fresh aroma of the roses near her. Slowly she reopened her eyes and gazed at the beautiful, maze-like garden. If the five foot bushes were an inch or two taller she would no doubt get lost every morning when she took her routine walk around outside before she started her daily job as one of Spain's maids.

He used to have twenty two maids in all making their chore load less because of the divided work but as time passed his child servants slowly began to grow up. Romano was back home and didn't have to be a maid anymore though it wasn't like he actually did anything. Occasionally, you would spot him walking around Spain's house saying he ran out of tomatoes at his house or something but everybody knew that he came because he missed his former caretaker. The rest had already freed of themselves from Spain one way or another before the current war started.

Cuba and Philippines were maids as well before the war started. Guam was actually happy she didn't have to see Cuba in that maid's dress anymore. Just thinking about it made her shudder and Philippines, just like S. Italy, did absolutely nothing except help make the house a mess.

That only left Puerto Rico and herself to do the housework. Neither of them ever complained out loud thinking it as ungrateful and disrespectful. They were living in _his_ house and eating_ his_ food after all. That didn't mean they liked him though. Well… Guam didn't like him. The only reason she put up with him was because she was in _his_ house. Puerto Rico was a different story. She was undoubtedly in love with him. Just about everyone except Spain knew.

Mary was snapped out of her thoughts when she felt her foot hit something hard and then she realized she was so lost in her thoughts she wasn't paying attention to where she was going.

"Whaa!" she screamed as she fell but before she could plunge into the fountain a strong hand grabbed the back of her clothes, pushed her back and steadied her so she wouldn't fall back. Guam breathed a sigh a relief.

"You should be more careful," a tired voice said from behind her.

"O-oh, t-th-thanks," she said quietly turning around to face Spain who was rubbing his eye looking more than a little drowsy. He turned around and slouched back towards the house with Guam following.

Suddenly two hands reached out from the bushes next to the younger one, covered her mouth and pulled her in. A few seconds after she found herself bound and gagged.

Spain turned around to say something to his maid but watched as she was pulled into the bushes by someone. It took a few seconds but after realizing his small servant was being kidnapped, Spain instantly woke up and started to yell and run towards the bushes where he saw this crime take place. He stuck his head into the emerald leaves which now had a small Guam shaped hole through them only to find America laughing his famous laugh and shouting, "I have captured Guam!"

Spain quickly sprang into action and tried to chase him but it didn't take long before he was panting and silently cursing his age as he watched them get further and further away.

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><p>Please review! If I made any mistakes please inform me. I proof read my work more than five times but sometimes I keep missing things.<p>


	3. Goodbyes Aren't Easy

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hetalia or any of the characters except Puerto Rico, Philippines, Guam and the new girl. No, I do not own the countries. **

It took forever writing this chapter because I erased soooo much. This chapter was supposed to be more heartbreaking but I decided it would be best just to do it this way instead.

_Thinking_

"Talking"

_"Talking in a different language"_

Other offer still stands until I get to the fourth chapter.

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><p><strong>Chp. 3 Goodbyes Aren't Easy<strong>

Sophia plopped down on her bed, which was now a yellow tint from old age. She didn't care the door was left open and that anybody can look through and see the poor condition her small space was in due to lack of maintenance over the course of a few days. She only cared to get some rest before Spain yelled at her to do something he thought up of just to keep her from thinking of anything that involved the war.

It had only been a week since Guam's capture; Spain kept Puerto Rico extra busy with chores around the 'castle'. She rarely had time for herself anymore as he treated her like a slave. It was always "_Puerto Rico clean this_," or "_Puerto Rico fix that._" It was never, "_Come and take a walk with me through the garden for a few minutes before you get back to work_," like he used to say back when Philippines, Cuba and Guam, were still present.

Crying herself to sleep was becoming routine for Sophia after Mary's abduction. None of this would have happened if her elder brother had just stayed a colony! Not long ago there was a time when she wanted independence too. Didn't all teens go through a rebellious phase? She quickly grew out of it, though the thought of independence crossed her mind from time to time. She never had this much of an effect on everyone when she gave Spain attitude and screamed she wanted independence.

They would still be a nice and happy family if Cuba hadn't gone and messed everything up. At least, that's what Puerto Rico thought. She never saw how much everyone in the house hated each other, the flaws in her 'perfect family'. She would always think of Spain as a father, Guam and the Philippines as her sisters, Cuba as her brother and herself as the housewife although no one except herself thought that way. Everyone else saw her as the more loyal daughter who listened to her father when he said to do something. She never saw how abusive he was even after all of his colonies had left him.

She was too blinded by her infatuation for the older man to notice but that didn't mean her people didn't. Some days her phone would be ringing off its hinges with complaints of her islanders but she would never listen. How could she be the representation of the country when she had a completely different opinion about Spain than most of them? It was so illogical sometimes Sophia would think of things to make sense of it like she wasn't Puerto Rico, maybe she was someone else, or that maybe deep in her heart she really did hate Antonio and his country.

_No! How could I think that?_

"_PUERTO RICO!"_ She heard Antonio shout from somewhere in the building snapping her out of her thoughts

_On second thought…_

Groaning as she stood up Sophie dragged her legs that felt as heavy as lead with each step she took. She wished her legs really were lead. Maybe if they were she could break the floor and fall through it, never to be seen again and never to have to deal with her problems again.

The second she stepped out of her room the phone started to ring but she took no heed to it as she continued down the hallway towards Spain's office. It was probably just another islander calling to complain again. They had been doing it a lot lately and after the first few calls Sophie just started to ignore them all together. What did they want her to do about Spanish soldiers taking advantage of them or that a majority of them lived in poverty? She was weeks away from them for Pete's sake! It wasn't like she could just take the next boat scheduled to leave and sail over there!

"_You called_," she said with more than just a hint of annoyance in her tone as she walked into his poorly lit room. The crunching of papers that the older nation had thrown onto the floor in fits of anger and frustration made her look down and sigh. Great, more work!

The small island sat down on her knees -since her skirt was too short to bend over with without revealing too much- and started picking up the papers.

"_Leave them_."

Puerto Rico looked up to find Spain looking back down at her. She almost jumped out of her skin at what she saw. His hair had a grey tint to it, his eyes were dull green with dark circles around them, his once beautifully tan skin was now as pale as it could get, a creepy smile was placed on his face that made Puerto Rico think he was going to devour her whole and… Was that _blood_ dripping down from his arm? She hoped it was the lack of light that made her see such terrible things but she could not deny the blood as a drop came down onto her nose when Spain reached out to stroke her messy hair.

Seeing the frightened looked on _America's_ colony his smile faded, he kneeled down next to her wrapping her into a hug and softly cried.

"_Tony?_" Sophie asked worriedly on the verge of tears herself. It upset her to see Antonio in such a state.

"_Please, don't say anything. Let me cherish the last few moments I have with you."_

She froze, dumbfounded and broke down when she finally got what he meant. How could this happen? Spain was older and more experience than America! Surely he was joking. There's no way America could have won!

After a few more minutes Spain surprised her by shoving her backward and getting up. Her head made a loud thump as it hit a tall wooden object behind her. His voice was cold as he said, "_Your boat leaves at five. Pack your stuff and go. I never want to see you again_."

_I never want to see you again,_ the words repeated in her mind many times before they sunk in and just like that her heart shattered into a million pieces and she knew her life would never be the same again.

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><p>Saying Sophia was depressed was the understatement of the century. She refused to eat, drink or even get up from her spot near the window that showed her nothing but the same trees and bushes she'd been staring at since she arrived at America's house. Rarely ever would she come out and when she did she didn't talk, smile, laugh or even show any emotion. Everything seemed to turn grey when she was around.<p>

When Philippines stated the island had become a ghost of her former self America took it quite literally and avoided Sophia's room like the plague. He even stopped bringing her meals which didn't affect her since she ignored the disgusting American food anyway. It was better to not have him visit her at all. Sophie would glare holes into his reflection in the window, not even bothering to turn around, whenever he used to enter the room.

One day America decided to ask Guam why the people of Puerto Rico were overjoyed to have been out of Spain's grasp but why the representation of Puerto Rico completely hated him. The personification was supposed to think and act like their people, weren't they?

"_Well, we're people too_," Guam said to her new boss. She spoke quietly but with a slight childish tone in her voice. She had opened up enough to him to be able to not stutter or act too shy when he was around. She was probably the only colony that actually liked him. "_And everyone is different in their own special way even if they are countries like us. Like if you take two random people off the streets. They aren't clones so they don't share the same history and level of experience in certain things. For example, one might be afraid of spiders because they had a bad experience with spiders and the other might like spiders because they find them interesting. It's the same with Sophie. The Puerto Ricans were on the island taking all the abuse the Spaniards gave them while Sophie was at Spain's house gladly doing whatever he asked."_

While Guam was telling him all that America just put his hand under his chin, closed his eyes and nodded looking like he was trying to assess the information but he really wasn't.

"_You don't get it do you?_" the smaller girl asked.

"_Nope!"_ the blonde grinned and scratched the back of his head then frowned. _"I just don't get why she hates me so much…"_

_"You're still young but you'll figure it out eventually,"_ Guam sighed_. "She doesn't hate you, she just doesn't like change. She was so used to having a big family, a simple job and she used to be needed. When all that is suddenly taken away, you don't feel right. Why not try to get her to eat or leave the room? Introduce her to the states or drag her around and take her sightseeing or something?"_

_"No way, man. There's not a chance in hell I'm going to go anywhere near a ghost,"_ the lighter skinned man said trembling.

_"Sophie isn't a ghost! Philippines didn't mean it literally!"_

_"Seriously? Don't lie to me!"_

"_I'm not!"_

Those two words caused America to turn around and run back home leaving an irritated Mary behind.

_"What about the park?"_ she shouted after him angrily but it was too late. He was already too far and she didn't know how to get to the park on her own so she ran after him.

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><p>"I want us to be friends but… I don't know how to start!"America sighed. <em>"<em>Now, what did Guam say again? Something to eat, leave the room, introduce to states, show her around, and get her a job." He smiled and nodded to himself. "I can totally do that!"

Alfred knew it would be an arduous task to get his new colony to become his friend and open up but he was willing to take the challenge. He was the hero after all. If he couldn't save someone from withering away into nothing in his own home how was he supposed to save all the other people outside of his home that were in trouble?

He quickly fixed Sophia something to eat and ran to her room almost tripping on his way there because of his excitement.

"Puerto Rico I have brought you something to eat. Now, hurry up and get fat so I can drag you outside to meet the family!" the younger country shouted at the girl.

"_I don't know what you're saying,_" a quiet voice replied from the dark room. Next to the window Sophia sat, as always, staring at the floating dust particles made visible by the rays of the sun.

_Crap, I forgot she doesn't know English. Oh, well, I can speak her language too, _Alfred thought. "_I have food for you!_"

"_Go away, I don't want American food_," she mumbled weakly.

"_I'm forcing you! Now eat!_" he shouted taking a spoon full of god-knows-what and sticking it in her mouth.

As disgusting as the American food was, she couldn't get herself to spit it out. It had been days since she had actually eaten anything and her stomach was begging her to swallow.

Alfred left with a satisfied smile on his face from seeing his new colony finally eat something. This marked the beginning of a new daily routine for the two. At the same time every day the taller man would come in and stuff food down the older one's throat in succeeding attempts to get her to fatten up.

It took about a week for Puerto Rico to regain what she had lost. America took notice to this and decided that he could finally get her out of that dirty room.

His laughter bounced off the grey walls of the room and rang in Sophia's ears. She sighed and, for the third time that week, contemplated jumping out the window but she knew it was impossible without breaking it and wounding her dark skin. Why couldn't he just leave her alone? He had her country why would he want her too?

To her surprise when she focused on the reflection on her window he wasn't holding a plate of food. This perplexed her but she remained silent and so did he. That grin of his that was always plastered on his face grew even wider as he thought about actually getting the girl to leave the room. He didn't have a plan, but heroes didn't need plans. Especially not super strong heroes.

America approached the shorter country slowly building up the tension in the room.

_What the hell is he doing? _Puerto Rico thought frozen. She could feel nothing good could possibly be coming her way. The way he smiled looked creepier than his normal one and that was enough for her. Following her instincts, Sophia quickly stood up to face him and crouched defensively as far away from him as the window could allow. Her expression suddenly became fierce.

At that second Alfred pounced and it was all over. The Puerto Rican didn't even have time to react before he tackled her to the ground, gripped both of her wrists in one hand and covered her mouth with the other. It was six o' clock. Why wake the children? They were on vacation.

"_I 'm making breakfast. I expect you to be out of the shower by eight,_" he laughed as if nothing had just happened and he wasn't holding onto her wrists and covering her mouth.

A shiver ran up her spine thinking about would happen if she left the room, her heart sped and she glared the whole time her was dragging her out. He laughed his obnoxious laugh that seemed to be filled with excitement. He finally let go of her to open a door that led to a bathroom.

She stepped away from him and walked in only to have the door shut behind her and locked.

_What bathroom has a lock on the outside? Was he planning this all along or what?_ She thought looking around and found with some relief that he had he had set out some clean clothes. She hadn't changed in forever! Still wearing that too small maid uniform Spain had given her.

With a sudden jolt she realized she never took any clothes with her! How could she forget the clothes? She looked back at the ones America put out for her and stared. Slowly she picked them up.

_I'm going to murder him._

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><p>Once Sophia got out of the shower and got dressed she was surprised to find the door was unlocked and someone was waiting for her outside the bathroom. The ivory pale skinned teen smiled at her with a warm and shy smile. She twirled a long strand of blond hair with her finger nervously and said, "<em>Breakfast is almost ready. Please follow me."<em> She adjusted her glasses before leading the older woman to a large room with a tremendous table in the middle with a large amount of teenagers munching on their breakfast sitting around it.

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><p>Please review! If I made any mistakes please inform me. I proof read my work more than five times but sometimes I keep missing things.<p> 


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